Experts warned that Russia must legalize methadone to stop an AIDS epidemic from spreading, beyond the already existing one million Russians infected with HIV.

Experts said during a three-day AIDS conference in Moscow that the number of HIV cases has doubled in the past eight years. The main reason behind this rise is the use of drugs which amounts to 80 percent of the cases.

They warned that Russia's epidemic will rapidly spread beyond drug users and reach the general population of 143 million through sexual activity unless preventive measures are taken.

The government says there are just over 500,000 registered cases in Russia. The use of methadone is illegal in Russia; it is widely used worldwide for the treatment of opium addiction.

Robin Gorna, the executive director of the International Aids Society (IAS), told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the conference, "It is a great concern for us that methadone is not being considered in Russia as it is the most effective treatment to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, we are encouraging the government to look at methadone programs"

Russia is the world's top consumer of Afghan heroin. President Dmitry Medvedev warned last month that the high drug use amongst the country's youth was a threat to national security.

The Russian government has put aside 9 billion roubles this year for treatment, and they plan to raise this amount to 19 billion roubles by 2011.